To Become A Couple
by The Passionate Admiral
Summary: The wait is over! The sequel to my Harry Potter fanfic Closer Together has been started! Anyway, in this story, Harry and Hermione start out their lives as parents at Hogwarts. Officially finished.
1. The Lingering Excitement

The Inseparable Ones

Author: The Passionate Admiral

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Do I look like J.K. Rowling to you? And if that's not good enough, I'll just say- er, type- it: I do not own Harry Potter; just this story.

Plot: This is a sequel to my first Harry Potter story "Closer Together." To recap, Harry and Hermione had a baby on Valentine's Day, and named him James Cedric "Jimmy" Potter. Before that, Harry and Hermione made a pledge that they would get married someday in the future. They also managed to find a way to raise their son at Hogwarts together. This will open up right after the baby's birth. (I apologize if this first chapter seems kind of awkward and/or ambiguous; I've been very busy ever since I last updated a story. I promise that the future chapters of this story will not be so vague.)

The excitement over James Cedric's birth was anything but short-lived. In fact, for the rest of February, it was the talk of the school. Countless people had come up to Harry and told him congratulations. Several others had visited Hermione in the Hospital Wing and asked to see Jimmy. Since Hermione had been confined to the Hospital Wing for two weeks to recover from the birthing process, she was taking care of him in the hospital wing for the first two weeks after his birth. She found that taking care of a newborn was more than just a little difficult, but Harry was with her almost every moment when his classes were not in session.

Hermione felt somewhat annoyed by how many people to visit her and see the baby came each day, but decided to let them see her newborn son. Hermione had asked Madam Pomfrey to only allow each of her visitors ten minutes at most to visit her. Certainly, with regards to her personality, she may have been an average teenage student at Hogwarts, but her maternal instincts possessed her with a yearning to spend most of her time either alone with Jimmy or alone with Jimmy and Harry.

Harry had been worried that the whole scandal of Hermione's pregnancy would damage both of their reputations around the school. To the contrary, the matter had actually enhanced their images. A lot of people respected both him and Hermione for accepting the responsibility all those months ago. It was then that the two of them realized that they had their friends' support for real.

Harry and Hermione had established a schedule for the two weeks the latter was confined to the Hospital Wing. Every morning, he would wake up, get some breakfast, and bring the food to the hospital wing. The two of them would eat together and then Harry would get ready for his classes. Hermione would take care of Jimmy by herself whenever Harry was not around. Harry spent the majority of his free time with the two of them. He wanted his son to have the good life; the life he was deprived of by Voldemort.

Finally, on the last day of February, Hermione was released from the Hospital Wing. She took Jimmy in her arms. He was sound asleep and wrapped up in a blanket as the two of them left. Hermione sighed to herself and thought to herself _Well, here goes nothing_. Then she stepped out of the Hospital Wing and back into her academic life.


	2. Not Your Ideal Birthday

Author's Note: Once again, I'd like to apologize for taking this long to get started on the sequel. I've just been very busy with schoolwork and other stuff. This one guy was actually very impressed with my Star Trek story "Humble Beginnings" and he invited me to join this Star Trek RPG. I've been more preoccupied with establishing my profile on that page for the past month. I even got promoted to the third-in-command last week. Anyway, I apologize for keeping you all waiting for a month and a-half. By the way, is anybody here a fan of CATS the musical?

The pleasant atmosphere remained when Hermione was released from the Hospital Wing. But strange things started happening again.

Ron's birthday was the day after Hermione returned to her classes. Both Harry and Ron woke up early that morning. Their dorm was empty except for them and Jimmy. Someone had come by the previous night and left Ron's gifts in the dorm. They suspected it was the house elves who performed the delivery.

As Ron started unwrapping his gifts, a thought occurred to Harry. He realized that he had been so preoccupied with becoming a father that he had fallen behind on keeping an eye on Malfoy's actions. He decided to investigate the matter before he went to breakfast. He went over to his trunk and started rummaging through it. He threw out a few of its contents until he found the Marauder's Map. He said "_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good._"

Ron helped himself to a box of Chocolate Cauldrons as Harry examined the map. But much to his frustration, Malfoy's presence was not registering anywhere. He grumbled, said "Mischief managed," and put the map away.

He gathered up the belongings he had thrown out of the trunk and put them all back in. Then he went over to Jimmy and changed him.

March 1st was on a Saturday that year. Harry planned to spend part of the day with Ron, and part of it with Hermione and Jimmy. He wanted to go outside with them later that day. Since Hermione had not gotten out for fifteen days, they figured she would benefit from some fresh air.

_First things first_ he thought to himself; he needed to get some breakfast before he did anything with Ron or Hermione. He was about to leave the boys' dormitory, but he noticed Ron was not following him. He noticed Ron had a very peculiar look on his face. Clearly, he was feeling very giddy.

"Ron? Breakfast?" Harry asked his best friend.

"I'm not hungry."

Harry immediately knew something was up; Ron rarely said he was not hungry.

"Harry, I can't stand it!"

"You can't stand what?" Harry asked, a note of confusion in his voice.

"I can't stop thinking about her!"

Logically, Harry assumed that Ron was referring to Lavender. But when Ron expressed that he doubted "she" even knew he existed, he discovered it was Romilda Vane. Initially, Harry had no idea how Ron's sudden infatuation over Romilda had started. Then he remembered; it was the Chocolate Cauldrons! Romilda had given them to him months ago, but Hermione had warned him that they were laced with Love Potion. They had been stashed in his trunk since then.

Harry concluded that the Chocolate Cauldrons were one of the items he had extracted from his trunk when he was searching for the Marauder's Map. When Ron saw them, he must have assumed they were for him, as the box was unopened and just lying around.

Harry tried to explain this to Ron, but to no avail. Harry decided to consult Professor Slughorn.

Harry took Ron out of the dormitory, calling over his shoulder "Neville, I'll be back in a moment. Could you watch Jimmy while I'm gone?"

"Sure, Harry!" was Neville's response.

Harry took Ron to Slughorn, who was happy to make an antidote for the love potion. Once Ron was cured, he felt like a complete idiot for succumbing to a love potion. Slughorn decided to get some drinks for himself and his two visitors.

Ron was the first to gulp down his drink. Almost immediately after he had drunk it, something very odd happened. Ron dropped his glass, fell to the ground, and started twitching violently all over. His eyes seemed to bulge and foam accumulated at his mouth.

Harry soon realized that Ron had ingested a poison. Slughorn seemed to be in shock, so it was up to Harry to do something. He quickly ran over to a potion kit and found the bezoar he had given Slughorn. He ran over to Ron, forced his mouth open, and thrust the bezoar inside.

A moment later, Ron was lying perfectly still on the ground.

Needless to say, the day did not go as Harry had initially planned. Instead of spending his day outside with his girlfriend and his son, Harry spent retelling the incident to several people, such as Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Madam Pomfrey.

A little past ten o'clock, Fred and George had come up to Hogwarts. They wanted to give their gift to Ron themselves, but unfortunately, he was not even conscious at the time. The twins, Hermione, Ginny, and Harry were visiting Ron in the Hospital Wing. Harry and Hermione had brought Jimmy with them.

"Ironic, is it not?" said Hermione, who was holding Jimmy. "Just yesterday, I got out of this hospital equivalent of a prison, but the very next day, Ron winds up in it!"

"I know what you mean," said Harry, "it seems that you, Ron, and I are Madam Pomfrey's three most recurring patients."

Before they could get further into this monotonous subject, Fred and George asked Harry to tell them what had happened. So, for at least the sixth time that day, Harry retold the terrible event. Then he and the others started thinking up some theories about the poisoned mead and what it was doing in Slughorn's possession. Fred theorized that Harry may have been the intended victim, which led Ginny to hypothesize that Slughorn could have a Death Eater. But she quickly shifted her idea and presented an idea that the posion could have been meant for Slughorn. Finally, Harry suggested that the poison could have been meant for Dumbledore.

Ron weakly stirred as they talked. A moment later, they were visited by Hagrid. He told them that he had only just heard about what happened to Ron.

Harry noted the odd connection between Ron's attack and the attack on Katie Bell that took place a few months earlier. He was starting to become suspicious that there actually was a conspiracy forming somewhere in Hogwarts.

A few moments later, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arrived. After being told that Ron would make a full recovery, Mrs. Weasley embraced Harry very firmly. In the past, Harry had saved Ginny and Mr. Weasley from Voldemort in the Chamber of Secrets and the snake at the Department of Mysteries respectively. Now he had saved Ron from being poisoned.

Madam Pomfrey had a strict six-visitor policy and asked a few people to leave. Harry and Hermione decided that they would go back to the Gryffindor common room. Before they left, Mrs. Weasley noticed Hermione was holding Jimmy in her arms. She asked Hermione if she could hold him for a moment. Hermione had said "Of course" and passed Jimmy to the mother of seven.

Jimmy was sound asleep for the first time since Ron had been poisoned. Mrs. Weasley looked down at him and smiled. "It's been a long time since I last held an infant in my arms."

Harry and Hermione grinned at her. Mrs. Weasley handed Jimmy back to Hermione, and then the latter and Harry departed from the Hospital Wing. Hagrid escorted them back to the Gryffindor common room. Hagrid decided to start a conversation. He asked Harry and Hermione "How's parenthood?"

"It's difficult, but rewarding." Harry answered brightly. "Jimmy is one of the quietest infants I have ever seen. But whenever he wants or needs something, he can be rather loud."

Hermione said "He certainly has one of the finest pairs of lungs I've ever seen. In fact, if it weren't for that spell that temporarily makes people deaf, I doubt that our roommates would approve of us keeping him in our dorms."

Harry scoffed at Hermione's comment, but he knew that she did have a point.

After the two of them talked about parenthood for a minute, Hagrid changed the subject. He brought up certain rumors that were going around. These rumors related to how the Ministry of Magic was considering shutting down Hogwarts. He accidently let slip that Dumbledore was mad at Snape, consequentially piquing Harry's interest.

Soon, Harry and Hermione reached the Gryffindor common room and entered. Hermione kissed him goodnight, gave him Jimmy, and went up to the girls' dormitory.

Harry sat down in a chair with Jimmy in his arms. He took a moment to reflect on the events of the day. His best friend had almost died, he had heard there was a chance that Hogwarts could be closed, and he learned that Snape had been assigned to investigate the members of the Slytherin House. He had expected that Dumbledore would have confided all his suspicions to him, but evidently, there were some that he kept to himself. Harry could not help but feel uneasy about the whole matter.

Harry was about go up to the boys' dormitory when someone shouted "There you are, Potter!"

Harry jumped to his feet and pulled out his wand. He pointed it in the direction of the shout. He thought that he must have looked ridiculous, holding a baby in one arm and pointing his wand with the other hand.

Harry quickly realized that it was just Cormac McLaggen and lowered his wand. McLaggen had also heard that Ron had been attacked and he assumed that he would replace him at least temporarily as Keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Harry saw the logic in McLaggen's assumption, as McLaggen had come in second-place for Keeper at the tryouts.

Once the matter was resolved, Harry decided to get himself and Jimmy to bed. Harry walked back upstairs to the boys' dormitory, changed Jimmy's diaper, tucked him into bed, and then got himself ready to go to sleep. He collapsed onto his bed and soon fell asleep.


	3. A Light Scare

Harry was on a pretty tight schedule, what with classes, homework, Quidditch practice, and being a parent. One would think that it would have been too overwhelming. But Harry managed to keep both his academic life and his personal life in order.

Quidditch practice still went on. McLaggen proved to be a capable replacement for Ron, but he had some issues in dealing with authority and treating other people with respect. Harry was greatly annoyed by McLaggen's insubordinate attitude, but he did not have time to find another suitable Keeper; so he let McLaggen stay on the team. However, he made a note to kick him off as soon as Ron was back on his feet.

Finally, the day of the match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff arrived. McLaggen continued to give orders without Harry's authorization, which the others chose to ignore. Upon examining McLaggen's suggestions, he found that McLaggen did have a few ideal strategies for how to play the game.

All geared up, the team walked outside onto the Quidditch fields to receive the cheers from the audience. Harry shook hands with the Hufflepuff team captain and everybody mounted their brooms. Everybody ascended into the air and after a moment, Madam Hooch started the game.

Harry kept a sharp eye out for the Golden Snitch. While surveying the game, he spotted Hermione in the audience. She had brought Jimmy with her. He smiled and waved to her; she waved back gleefully.

Harry went back to looking out for the Snitch. He heard a familiar voice provide some commentary about the game. He realized that the person doing the commentary for this game was Luna Lovegood. Zacharias Smith was not doing the commentary this time around for two good reasons: he was a player on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and he had been discharged from the task because of some rather rude comments he had made during the match between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

Luna said at one point "There's the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, Harry Potter. By the way, Harry, congratulations on little Jimmy!"

Harry smiled at the Ravenclaw fifth-year and made a salute to her. She saluted him back. Harry then resumed the game. Unfortunately for him, he had to search for the Snitch and keep McLaggen from ordering people around all at the same time.

At one point, McLaggen had taken away Peakes's Beater bat and was trying to instruct him how to properly hit a passing Bludger. Harry had confronted him at the worst possible time: when McLaggen's arm was in mid-swing.

Harry suddenly felt a huge painful sensation building up in the back of his head. He then imagined that seeing a very bright light and felt as though he was falling down a long tunnel. Then he blacked out.

Harry woke up several hours later in the Hospital Wing. It was then that Ron and Madam Pomfrey told him about the incident itself. Harry was feeling a strong desire to kill McLaggen, but Madam Pomfrey made sure he did not get out of his bed.

About twelve minutes after Harry had regained consciousness, Hermione paid him a visit. She came over to his bed and embraced him. She hugged him so tightly that she almost suffocated him. Harry commented "You seem to be… glad to see me, Hermione."

Ron chuckled and told his best friend "She's literally been dropping in at least once every fifteen minutes ever since the rest of the team brought you here. Almost every time she's come, she's bombarded Madam Pomfrey with questions about your condition."

Hermione let Harry go and looked him directly in the eyes.

"Promise me you won't scare me like that again!" she demanded.

Harry knew that part of Hermoine's request was dead serious, but the other part indicated she was speaking in a casual manner.

"I promise," Harry said jovially.

Hermione grinned and said "Thank you." Then she kissed Harry full on the lips. He kissed her back and put his hand on her shoulder.

Ron just watched them. He rolled his eyes and said "Get a room, you two."

Harry and Hermione pretended to ignore Ron. When they came apart, Harry noticed something and asked Hermione "Where's Jimmy?"

"Ginny's looking after him," Hermione explained, "I don't know why, but she seems rather fond of Jimmy. I'm not sure why, though."

"I have a theory," said Ron. Harry and Hermione listened to him say, "Two theories, actually. The first one could be that since she's the youngest member of my family, she's never gotten to spend any time with a baby, so she's just curious and undergoing the experience on her own."

Ron's face then got darkly serious and he said "My other theory is that… perhaps she simply wants to become familiar with babies because…" His face seemed to get very tense from anger.

Neither Harry nor Hermione could determine why Ron was experiencing such anger, but then Harry soon realized where this topic was going. He rolled his eyes and said "Ron, I think it's safe to say that Ginny will not be taking her relationship with Dean just THAT far anytime soon."

"You never know, Harry," Ron pointed out, "People can sometimes be impulsive when they're in that kind of relationship."

"He does have a point there," Hermione agreed, "After all; you and I were kind of impulsive on that one night all those months ago…"

Harry immediately knew that Hermione was referring to the night that Jimmy was conceived.

"Well, my relationship with Lavender has only had occasional surprises," said Ron, "So I suppose maybe I am overreacting when I think about the direction Ginny's relationship with Dean will head."

"I think you're wrong, Ron," said Harry. Ron looked at him, and Harry added to his last sentence "About the word 'maybe.'"

The three friends decided to drop the subject and talked for a little while. Finally, Madam Pomfrey beckoned Hermione to leave so that Harry and Ron could get their rest. Hermione kissed Harry goodbye and left to pick up Jimmy from Ginny. Harry and Ron were left to talk for the rest of the night until Madam Pomfrey closed the Hospital Wing. Then they settled down to get some rest, as both of them- particularly Harry- needed their rest.


	4. Great Wonderful News

Note: I'm sorry this chapter is kind of short; I have midterms next week, and I've been very preoccupied with studying and such.

On the following Monday, Harry and Ron were released from the Hospital Wing. Both of them were relieved, as was Madame Pomfrey. It had been almost a month since either Harry, Ron, or Hermione were not one of her patients.

The very first thing Harry did was boot McLaggen off of the Quidditch team and reinstate Ron as the team's official Keeper. Then he met up with Hermione and Jimmy in the Gryffindor common room. When he got there, Hermione told him she had great news- her parents had sent her a letter.

"What does it say?" inquired Harry.

"I'll read it to you," Hermione picked up the letter and read aloud:

"_Dear Hermione,_

_We've taken the past months to think about the current situation, and we've decided that we were wrong to throw you out. It was an opprobrious thing for us to do to you. We hope you will forgive us and come home at the end of the year. We will welcome you with open arms. Apart from that, we would like to meet our first grandchild. We would also appreciate it if we could get to know this boyfriend of yours._

_We do not blame you if you despise us for what we did, but we hope you will come home. We miss you, and we love you._

_Sincerely,_

_Mom and Dad._

_P.S. Is it a girl or a boy?_

Hermione had thought that Harry would be happy for here. But his initial reaction was somewhat... unexpected.

"What's wrong, Harry?" she said in concern.

"Hermione, doesn't it strike you as odd how your parents have forgiven you after not even speaking to you for all these months?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Perhaps it's the Death Eaters setting up a trap," Harry theorized. "Hell, maybe- and now this may seem extremely pessimistic, but it is certainly plausible- they've captured your parents and sent this letter as bait to lure you into the trap."

Hermione scoffed and told him "I undestand your skepticism; I experienced it when I first read the letter, too. But I had Professor Flitwick examine it to confirm its authenticity. He told me that it was indeed my mother's handwriting. Now I have no doubt that this was sent by my parents; even replicated handwriting contains notable discrepancies."

"You're absolutely sure that this was sent by them?" Harry wanted to be sure before they jumped to conclusions.

"If you want, we could have an Auror investigate their- my- house first." Hermione suggested.

Harry shrugged and said "I suppose that would be a reasonable arrangement. We would be able to confirm the validity of the letter."

(A few days later...)

Harry and Hermione received a note from Tonks, Lupin, and Sirius. They had visited Hermione's parents' house and they had spoken with them.

Upon reading the note, Harry's skepticism faded and he embraced Hermione, telling her "Hermione, this is wonderful!"

Hermione was so happy at that moment. She was sure that her parents were never going to forgive her for allowing herself to become pregnant, but now THEY were the ones who were asking HER for forgiveness.

"I'm going to write them a return note immediately," she explained to Harry.

She went up to the girls' dormitory and came back with a quill pen set and parchment paper.

She quickly but neatly wrote the following:

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_Of course I'll come home. I understand how you may have felt that I betrayed your trust. But I forgive you. When the school year ends, I'll come back and we can let bygones be bygones. Secretly, I knew that all you needed was time to think._

_By the way, I just want you to know that I have not been managing by myself all this time. My friends have been very supportive and genial. I can't wait until you get to know Harry; he's a wonderful person, he is taking his parenting responsibilities very seriously (as I am), and he's helped me every step of the way._

_Sincerely,_

_Hermione Jane Granger_

_P.S. It's a boy. We named him James Cedric Potter (We named him after both Harry's father, James Potter, and our late friend Cedric Diggory. However, we usually just call him "Jimmy"). On a side note, what I find rather peculiar about Jimmy's physical features is something he has in common with Harry. Like Harry, he looks exactly like his father, except that he has his mother's eyes._

Hermione was about to place the letter in an envelope when Harry suggested "How about we send them a picture of the three of us with the letter?"

"That's a great idea!" Hermione exclaimed.

Harry stood up and handed Jimmy over to her. Then he said "You wait here. I'll see if I can find Colin Creevey."

"Why Colin?" inquired Hermione.

"He's the only person I know that has a readily available camera," Harry smirked.

After about ten minutes of searching, Harry found Colin Creevey with his younger brother Dennis in the courtyard. Harry presented his request to Colin, and Colin was more than willing to comply with it.

They went back up to the Gryffindor common room and Harry sat down with Hermione and Jimmy. Colin insisted on making the shot perfect, so he inspected the group of three carefully for about five minutes until he was satisfied.

He took the picture without even giving them a head's up, which was typical of him, but Harry and Hermione did not mind. Besides, the picture turned out to be an excellent one.

After dipping the picture in a potion that allowed the figures inside to move, Hermione placed both it and the letter into an envelope. After sealing it and writing her parents' address at the top, Harry fetched Hedwig. After Hermione made sure that Hedwig knew the way to her parents' house, the white owl started to make her way to her intended destination.

The rest of the day was more or less uneventful. But Hermione was notably in a very good mood, and she felt as if nothing could ruin that good mood.


	5. Goals

(Note: I made an addendum to the previous chapter yesterday. You may want to go back to read it; it's over three hundred words extra. Anyway, on another note, everything that happened in the _Half-Blood Prince_ between the last two Quidditch matches with Gryffindor has happened in here, but with two notable differences: Ginny is still with Dean, and Ron has been able to maintain his relationship with Lavender [Believe me, I myself am not fond of either pairing, but they did seem to be the most suitable ones to have when given this scenario]. Besides that, everything else has literally gone "by the book.")

The rest of the year went by remarkably well, until the night when Dumbledore summoned Harry to find one of Voldemort's Horcruxes.

After finding the locket on that hostile island, Harry Apparated with his Headmaster back to Hogsmeade. There, they encountered Madam Rosmerta outside The Three Broomsticks. Harry was about to ask Madam Rosmerta to look after Dumbledore while he ran up to the Castle. Madam Rosmerta stopped him and started to warn him. He was confused by the warning until she pointed something out to him. It was then that Harry saw it- The Dark Mark itself was directly over Hogwarts! It was hovering in the sky above the Astronomy Tower.

Harry felt a rush of panic surging through every vein in his body. He needed to get up there and make sure everyone was safe. Fortunately for him, Madam Rosmerta agreed to let Harry and Dumbledore borrow two of her broomsticks.

The student and the Headmaster hastily made their way to the Astronomy Tower. Once there, Dumbledore gave Harry explicit instructions to hide under his Invisibility Cloak and to find Professor Snape. Harry only managed to get on his Invisibility Cloak before they were interrupted by Draco Malfoy.

Harry felt himself become paralyzed and saw Dumbledore's wand fly out of his hand almost simultaneously. After a moment, he was able to conclude that Dumbledore had nonverbally used _Stupefy _on him and Malfoy had shouted "_Expelliarmus_" to disarm Dumbledore.

Harry could not move anything, so he was forced to simply lean against the wall and listen to a most peculiar conversation between his Headmaster and his school nemesis.

The conversation explained a lot to Harry, and he had received more than one revelation from it. Not long after the conversation began, they were interrupted yet again by a small group of Death Eaters. Shortly afterwards, Professor Snape came through the door to the tower. Snape slowly approached Dumbledore, wand in hand.

Dumbledore could only mutter "Severus… please…"

Snape raised his wand and shouted "_Avada Kedavra!_"

Dumbledore was hit by a bolt of green light. He went almost flying backwards and fell over the battlements.

Harry was still paralyzed; he could do nothing but stare in complete hatred as the Death Eaters and Malfoy departed from the Astronomy Tower. Just before the last one left, the _Stupefy _spell had worn off. Harry threw off his cloak, picked up his wand, pointed it at the last Death Eater, and shouted " _Petrificus Totalus!"_

Immediately, the Death Eater collapsed. Harry quickly passed over him and ran down the stairs as fast as he could go.

Downstairs, a battle was raging on. Harry found several of his teachers, fellow students, and members of the Order of the Phoenix engaged in battle with other Death Eaters. Harry launched a spell at every Death Eater that came into his sight.

He met up with Ron and asked him frantically "Where's Hermione? Where's Hermione? Where the hell is Hermione?"

"Harry, calm down," Ron shook his best friend, trying to get him to calm down "She's fine; she and Luna just took Professor Flitwick to the Hospital Wing."

"What about Jimmy?" Harry was still freaking out.

"He's with them," Ron assured him.

Upon knowing that his lover and his son were safe, Harry changed his directives. He ran after Snape and the other Death Eaters as fast as he could go.

He eventually caught up with Snape outside the castle. Harry launched spell after spell at him, only to have each and every one of them neutralized by Snape.

Harry even tried to use some of the Half-Blood Prince's spells on Snape. It was then that Snape revealed that HE was the Half-Blood Prince. Shortly after revealing this information, Snape, Malfoy, and the other Death Eaters disappeared from the Hogwarts grounds.

(Time passes…)

After the damage done to the castle was repaired, Professor McGonagall was instated as Headmistress of Hogwarts and Dumbledore's funeral was held.

Once all of this was accomplished, Harry began making plans for the near future with Hermione and Ron. They had decided that they would not return to Hogwarts, but instead they would go into hiding and find the remaining Horcruxes and destroy them. And Harry vowed that as long as he drew breath, he would protect his best friend, his lover, his son, and everyone else he loved with his life.

Note: I'm sorry that this chapter was also short; I promise that the next chapter will be much more eventful. You see, right now, I'm trying to balance my CATS fanfic "Hidden Truths of the Hidden Path" and this one. I'm going to try to finish that one first, and then all my focus will be directed towards this fanfic. I would like to say thank you to all of you who have stayed with me all this time! All of you mean something to me!


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